4 | Transportation Assessment 4-1 Transportation Assessment This section provides an overview of existing transportation ways, bus service, and commuter rail service will continue conditions in the Study Area. to help Romeoville capitalize on its regional access. SECTION Regional Setting Existing Roadway Characteristics 4 TThe Village of Romeoville is located in northern Will County, Major roadways within the Study Area include IL Route 53, with good access to many parts of the region through inter- 135th Street, and New Avenue. These roadways, along with states and major arterials. I-55, I-355, Weber Road, Joliet future improvements are described in the Romeoville Mas- Road (IL Route 53), Archer Road / State Street (IL Route 171) ter Transportation Plan (November 2009). and Renwick Road all provide connections to Romeoville. Pace local and express buses provide service to the Village, IL Route 53 and existing commuter rail service is located nearby in ad- IL Route 53 is the main north-south road through the Vil- jacent communities. Potential new improvements to road- lage, under the jurisdiction of the Illinois Department of Source: Teska Associates, Inc. Associates, Teska Source: This northward view of IL Route 53 shows Downtown Romeoville on the left side of the photo, with the Shell gas station sign marking the southeast corner of downtown. The tall pole signs, including the one for Spartans’ Square, and deep lot setbacks are atypical of a traditional downtown. Adopted by Village Board on April 18, 2012 East Side Plan | Existing Conditions Assessment Report Village of Romeoville, Illinois 4 | Transportation Assessment 4-2 Transportation (IDOT). North of the Village of Romeoville, nates on the west side of Romeoville at Weber Road, which Bus Service IL Route 53 provides access to I-55 and I-355. Between the provides access to I-55. East of IL Route 53, 135th Street car- northern village limits at 135th Street, IL Route 53 carries ries 13,800 ADT. IDOT is currently studying improvements Pace Route 834 about 33,000 average daily traffic (ADT). South of 135th to the interchange at I-55 and Weber Road, which could Pace Route 834 travels along IL Route 53 with a stop at the Street, IL Route 53 carries between 26,000 and 29,000 ADT. impact traffic volumes on 135th Street. Spartans’ Square Park-n-Ride lot. Service is provided from Yorktown Shopping Center to Joliet Union Station and pro- New Avenue Additionally, Will County is currently in the process of widen- vides connections to the Downers Grove Main Street Metra New Avenue, located in the eastern portion of the Study ing 135th Street from High Road (just east of New Avenue) Station located on the BNSF Line, the Lockport Metra Sta- Area, provides connections north to Lemont and south to IL to IL Route 171 (Will County has jurisdiction from High Road tion on the Heritage Corridor Line, and Joliet Union Station Route 171 (Archer Road / State Street). It is an unmarked, to Archer Avenue). on the Rock Island Line. Service operates Monday through state-maintained route. North of 135th Street, New Avenue Saturday on an approximately hour headway. carries about 8,000 ADT. South of 135th Street it carries As part of Phase I of this project, the County is acquiring about 10,000 ADT. The intersection of New Avenue and right-of-way (ROW) to improve the alignment and signal- Pace Route 834, which has an average weekday bus rid- 135th Street was recently improved. ize the intersection of 135th Street and Archer Avenue with ership of 841 riders17, is one of the strongest performing completion in 2012. Phase II will focus on Archer Avenue to routes in Joliet, so there could be potential for future service 135th Street / Romeo Road Smith Road with completion in 2015. Phase III will focus on improvements. This route is scheduled to change from op- 135th Street / Romeo Road is an east-west arterial under the Smith Road to High Road with completion in 2017. erating on a “flag stop” basis to a “posted stop” basis, which jurisdiction of the Village of Romeoville. 135th Street termi- means the vehicle will only stop at posted/signed stops. Pace Route 855 Source: Teska Associates, Inc. Associates, Teska Source: Pace Route 855 travels along I-55 with stops at various park-and-ride lots between Plainfield and Burr Ridge. Pace Route 855, which has an average weekday bus ridership of 266 riders17, is travels non-stop from Burr Ridge to North Michigan Avenue in Downtown Chicago. Service operates rush hour only Monday through Friday. Two trips are pro- vided from the Spartans’ Square Park-n-Ride lot in Rome- oville during the A.M. peak period. There are six return trips in the P.M. peak period, stopping upon request at any of the park-and-ride lots served. This westward view of 135th Street illustrates the rolling topography that defines the East Side. The railroad crossing sign in the foreground indicates het approach to the Canadian National Railroad, which carries the Metra Heritage Corridor Line and provides the opportunity for a new commuter station. 17 Source: RTAMS, Ridership Statistics, Pace Bus Route Detail, June 2011. East Side Plan | Existing Conditions Assessment Report Adopted by Village Board on April 18, 2012 Village of Romeoville, Illinois 4 | Transportation Assessment Starting in November 2011, Pace Route 855 service along response rate coming from Joliet (10%). Romeoville resi- who provided their ideal arrival time in Chicago listed 4-3 I-55 is planned to begin operating along the shoulders of dents comprised 9% of the survey respondents. Findings between 6:16 and 6:30 am. The last train to arrive at I-55 to improve travel time and service reliability. Currently from this survey include: Chicago Union Station arrives at 8:10 am. Of the peo- no additional service is planned to be added when the bus- ple who provided their ideal arrival time in Chicago, shoulders improvement is implemented, but could be a 73% of respondents use the I-55 / Heritage Corridor to 27% would like to arrive between 8:15 and 8:30 am. future possibility. travel to/from work. Of respondents who provided their ideal departure Spartans’ Square Park-n-Ride Lot 32% of respondents use the Heritage Corridor 5 days a time from Chicago, 17% listed a departure time be- Spartans’ Square Park-n-Ride is located in the parking lot week. Only 8% of respondents use Pace service at least tween 4:31 and 4:45 pm, and 15% listed a departure of Spartan Square. It currently has about 20-30 vehicles one or more days a week, and only 2% use vanpool. time between 6:15 and 6:30 pm. The first departure parked on a daily basis. No changes are envisioned for the from Chicago Union Station provided by Metra Heri- location of this lot in the near future. Long-term changes When asked what other Metra lines were used, 37% tage Corridor trains is 4:50 pm and the last departure would depend on improvements to the I-55 / Weber Road use the Rock Island Line, 36% use the BNSF Line, and is 6:12 pm. interchange. 22% use the Southwest Service Line. The survey findings are currently under review by Pace and Romeoville’s Ride Around Town Program Of those who use the Heritage Corridor for their morn- Metra to determine future potential actions. Romeoville’s Ride Around Town service is a general purpose ing commute, 42% board at the Lockport station, 37% dial-a-ride service provided by the Village of Romeoville board at the Lemont station, and 18% board at the NORTH to its residents. Appointments must be made 24 hours in Joliet station. advance on a first come, first service basis. Fare is $1.50 one-way within Romeoville, increasing based on distance When asked if they would use Pace service if it was uti- BingMaps. Source: of destination. Service operates on Mondays from 9:30 am lized to supplement Metra Heritage Corridor service, to 1:00 pm and on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:30 am 30% responded they would definitely use Pace ser- until 3:00 pm. vice, 28% would probably use the service, while only 9% respondents answered that they would definitely Heritage Corridor Transportation Survey not use the service. Pace recently conducted an online survey of communities Several comments expressed a desire for midday whose residents use Metra’s Heritage Corridor service in or- service to be provided by either Pace or Metra. How- der to assess origin-destination information and commute ever, most respondents expressed that they would like needs. The survey also explores the possibility of providing more departure time options during the morning and bus service to supplement Heritage Corridor service. evening peak periods. Located along the Heritage Corridor Line and south of Romeoville, the The majority of survey respondents were from either Currently, the first Metra Heritage Corridor train arrives Lockport Metra Station is similar to the transit opportunity in Romeoville in that trail connections are available next to the station. Lockport (29%) or Lemont (25%), with the next highest at Chicago Union Station at 6:50 am. 19% of people Adopted by Village Board on April 18, 2012 East Side Plan | Existing Conditions Assessment Report Village of Romeoville, Illinois 4 | Transportation Assessment 4-4 Metra Commuter Rail Service Railroad and New Avenue. A 600-space surface parking lot 286 Romeoville residents found to be using other Metra sta- is also proposed, scheduled to be completed in 2014. tions (per Metra counts). While many of those traveling to The Village of Romeoville is served via the Lemont and Lock- stations along other lines, such as the BNSF, may not be at- port stations on the Metra Heritage Corridor.